John Smith Question

I believe they showed the families and friends of the John Smiths because they were trying to show how they interacted with other people. It showed how one person can’t just go off alone and that they need companionship. I think that it was good to show them with families, especially John at 45 when his son came home from the Marines. Also I really liked seeing John at 36 with his mom, and John at 79 with his family. It really showed how everyone loves someone in their life. By showing us the Johns with their families and friends, it gave us a sense of reality. It made the show not so unrealistic, because it was showing people’s feelings. It showed how a lot of people have a lot of common feelings.

Raymond

My sister, Squeak, takes care of me, stands up for me when people are being mean. Sometimes I feel bad about her having to take me along everywhere. I try to keep up with her on her trots so that I'm not such a hassle. I pretend to be an airplane or a race car to make it fun. She runs all the time. People say she's the quickest around. I'm proud of my sister and want to be just like her. When she practices breathing, I try to imitate her. It's exciting watching her in a race. When I ran when the gunshot sounded, it was one of the best feelings ever. I felt like I won the race right with her.

Hero

I don't really have a hero. Everyone to me has heroic features, but no one stands out. People who seem really heroic have flaws. What I would look for in a hero is nothing like bulk, but someone who really cares about others. Someone who has courage and is self confident. Someone that helps other people simply because of the good of their heart. The title "Hero" means a lot to me, and I wouldn't use it loosely.

1 Year to Live..

If I found out I only had one year to live, well first I would probably get really depressed. Then of course, I'd get over myself and move on. First, I would fly to Europe, and visit England, and Rome. I would visit the Vatican. After Rome, I would fly to Dubai to visit the largest mall in the world. Then I would go on a safari and insist on holding a monkey. Simply because that would be awesome. After my safari adventure I'd fly back over to the U.S. and stop in New York City. I'd walk around central park just to say I had, and then I would visit wall street. Then after that I would take a trip to the Bahamas and stay at Atlantis. This all sounds great, but I would insist my family comes with me and a few friends because otherwise it would be lonely. I would make the most of the last year. I wouldn't hold back, of course I wouldn't do anything really stupid, like skydiving. Although that would be quite the thrill. I would also publish the book that I am writing, because that is a dream. If I only had one year to live, I can assure you, I wouldn't be sitting here writing about, I'd be out in the world. I'd let myself be free.

If you really knew me..

If you really knew me, you'd know that almost every harsh word I've ever said was straight out of anger. I never mean to say things, they just slip out, and I've always regretted some of the things I said.

If you really knew me, you'd know that my brother died when I was in fifth grade, my brother died. I still feel bad about it today. I never stop thinking about it. Always telling myself I should have called him more. I should have went to visit him more. I should have.. but I didn't. And that's what makes me feel so bad all the time.

If you really knew me, you'd know that even though this is just for my language arts class, it's hard to write this and send it out to the world. Because I'm scared of letting other people know who I really am.

Spring Break

Over spring break, my mom took Beth and I to Gurnee Mills for promotion dresses. At first we were going to go to Mall of America in Minnesota, but decided that was too long of a drive. So on our way down there, we stopped at Cracker Barrel to eat. After lunch, we went to go look around in the shop there. Of course we were intrigued with the toys section so we took a gander. There were all sorts of things from spy glasses that let you see behind you to a toy knife that was plastic and retracted in when you stabbed someone to make it look realistic. We had fun with those. Then at the mall we walked everywhere. It seemed to never end. That was the best part of spring break (besides sleeping in and playing zombies that is).

What I learned about the Civil War

1. One of the causes was actually a book. It was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, called "Uncle Tom's Cabin" and it caused the war because it was in the eyes of a slave and it upset some of the people from the south.
2. Gettysburg was important to the war because it wasn't even planed to happen that way and there was a lot of bloodshed there.
3. Abraham Lincoln, because he was president during the war and he made influential decisions during the war.

Reflection

The most difficult part of writing the historical fiction story wasn't even writing. The hardest part was finding the twenty facts. The easiest was writing a story, the only thing somewhat odd about that was putting foot notes into a story. I'm just not used to that. Yes, I do think I used my class time wisely to actually complete the assignment and I was ahead of time on my notes. I think that I might have rushed the ending a little, but otherwise I think that it was pretty good. I really liked this particular assignment because it was actually writing fiction and not another essay.

Interrogation

Interrogator: "So why'd you do it?"
Mary Lou: "I don't know what you're talking about."
Interrogator: "Why'd you try to send information to the Union?"
Mary Lou: "Honestly sir, I don't know what your talking about."
Interrogator: "Stop lying!"
Mary Lou: "Sir, like I've told you repeatedly, I haven't done anything wrong!"
Interrogator: "Is Kate your real name?"
Mary Lou: "Yes sir, since birth. Named after my grandmother."
Interrogator: "Interesting story. Now tell me this: are you a spy?"
Mary Lou: *gasps* "Under no circumstance would I ever betray the south and be in acquaintance with them Yankees."
Interrogator: "Likely."

Spring Break

Yes, we all know what it is. That entire week in April that we get off from school. Most families go on vacation during this time, but why do we really have a spring break? Is it because we're too tired from all the schooling? No. Is it so we can do whatever we want and go on vacation? No. Turns out, spring break is really supposed to be a week to study. Shocker. That whole week we get off is supposed to be just so we can study more. I think it's funny that we do exactly the opposite on spring break than it was really intended for.

Peeps

They're marshmallow, they were first made by a Russian immigrant and they're usually found in Easter baskets. What are they? Yes, they're peeps. This little guys have been an Easter tradition for as long I can remember, almost as important as coloring eggs. They're made of marshmallow (the obvious) , corn syrup, gelatin, and carnauba wax. Carnauba wax may sound kind of scary at first, but not to fear this product is used on many other treats. It's the coating on m&ms! Peeps are so famous, they even have annual "Peep offs" which is basically an eating competition to see who can eat the most of the candies in thirty minutes. Peeps went from an immigrants creation to a mass produced treat.

There's a knock at the door. "Mary Lou will you get that?" My mom calls to me from the parlor.
I open the door to see a man in uniform standing on our porch. "Hello, is your mother home?" I turn around and get my mom. "Hello, what could I do for you sir?" She's wiping her hands on her favorite blue apron. "Are you Mrs. Thompson?" She nods, "Yes." He looks at her with pity and hands her the letter. She starts to open it hesitantly. "I'm sorry to inform you ma'am, that your Husband, Fredrick R. Thompson and your son, Richard S. Thompson, have been killed in battle." She cripples to the floor. "Oh god no!" She starts sobbing and I hold her in my arms. "I'm very sorry ma'am, they were two of the finest men I've ever known." My mom's shaking violently. "Sir, I'm goin' to need to ask you to leave. Good day." "Good day miss." My mom's holding me tight.

Upfront Magazine.

The article that we read in Upfront, there were some quite interesting facts. One of them was that more men died from illness than from actual battle, which surprised me. That was interesting but the thing that I could most use what #9, the one where it talked about how women were involved in the war. Since that is what my historical fiction is going to be on, I do think that I could use this as research. There were also other facts in the article that could perhaps play a role in my research.

Mary Lou Thompson.

My real name is Mary. But everyone calls me by my middle name, Lou. I was only fifteen when the war began. I missed my dad and my brother everyday. When I was young, I couldn't understand why people were fightin'. I still have regrets about that day. The day I said goodbye. But what am I doing, thinking about this, I have to live in the present. But it's so unbearably difficult not to think about it. The day that letter came. I remember the way mama cried for weeks. I almost couldn't take it anymore. They asked me to do it, and I accepted. As revenge for my beloved father and my brother. I don't even blink. I've never regretted anything I've ever done. These men deserve it. They think I'm sweet and innocent, but they're wrong. I can handle myself. They think I can't, but I can. There ain't no way I'm lettin' myself down after I've come so far. They've asked me to be a spy and I will fight to the end. I will never let my family go hungry, and I will never ever forget my father or my brother. Something's for sure though, there ain't no better grit than when a woman has it. They say lots a' men have grit, but they ain't never seen anything like us. They don't even know what hit 'em when suddenly their information's leaked to their enemies. Oops, did I do that?

Historical Fiction

The book that I read yesterday was different journals and pictures from people who lived during that time. The point of the book was to show how diverse people's lives were back then. It gave point of view from many different aspects. From young boys to old men. I have started thinking about my story. The story is going to take place in the north, though I am not sure specifically where yet, and the main character is going to be a girl around our age. The conflict in the story is going to be that she really misses her dad and her brother. They went off to war. She has to work everyday with the motivation that her family will be reunited again. I would tell you more, but I do not want to spoil the ending.

Motivations

I believe that there are many different reasons for motivations. Between all of them I believe that well to put it bluntly, Passion, is what really gets people. It doesn't have to be a lovey-dovey type passion, it could be a passion for anything. A passion for writing, a passion for basketball, for skateboarding, you know whatever floats your boat. Passion could motivate someone to go that extra mile, to push themselves to be their best. Yes, I do believe everyone is somewhat selfish. Sometimes reasons to be selfish could be justified, but many times it's just out of greed. One time, I really wanted concert tickets. My parents weren't giving in. So I asked for them for my birthday. Then I kept reminding them and reminding them. I was so determined to get those tickets I even cleaned the entire house. The motivation came from well, a passion. I ended up getting the tickets ad found that motivation is really key to success.

Fighting

I believe that fighting can be justified. It does not have to be violent. In many cases people fight for rights. Actually most of what we fight for are rights. A person that we should all be reminded of with this topic is Martin Luther King Jr. He is one person who changed history fighting for freedom, nonviolently. The nonviolent manner lead to great things. A way to fight without harsh actions is protesting. This way there is not violence and you get the point through. Another way would be to boycott something that you are against. This fights what ever you want to fight in a very quiet manner and there is not really much someone could do about it. The way I see it, it's really better to fight without fists, fighting nonviolently won't get you in trouble and it gets the point through.

Free Will

I think that there are a lot of people in this world without free will. Most of the countries here are restricted to express free will. More or less, a lot of people are scared to express themselves, they are scared of consequences. I mean, sure we have laws to restrict some things, and that's okay, but for the things that are free, I think people should take the opportunity and run with it. People need to do things, face their fears, otherwise life will be boring. Free will is a key factor in day to day life. Free will doesn't mean violence really, but to do something great. Something you're not used to.

Syrian Shooting

Early in the day Wednesday, security guards attacked protesters who were taking refuge in a mosque. The mosque was in the center of the city of Dara'a. At least six people dead. These six include a doctor that was trying to save some of the others. He was shot down. A Syrian news station story aired the story and were far from the truth of what happened. The television reporters said that the people had been hurt after attacking an ambulance. My thoughts on this are simple. I believe that it was completely wrong to the the story like that. The television station really should have told it how it was instead of blaming innocent people for the shooting. Also, I believe it was really messed up that the security guards would just charge in there like that and start firing.

Read the article I read at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/24/world/middleeast/24syria.html?hp

Ancient Aliens

Aliens are sometimes considered a myth. Notice the word "sometimes." When I say this, I'm saying that some people truly believe in these extraterrestrial beings. Although some people today believe we're still being visited, many people around the world believe that our ancestors were visited centuries ago. Theories that people have come up with have been set in times as far back as India B.C. One controversial topic is that of the stone henge. The rocks at stone henge aren't your usual pebbles, they way several tons. So how is it that our ancient people could have done this by hand if we today would have trouble doing something like that with our new technologies? It really puts into your head, "what if aliens really did do this?" Another take on this subject are tiny carvings of "birds" found in the ancient Mayan cities. The gold was shaped into a "bird" but many people look at it as if it were an airplane. The carvings have very aerodynamic shapes to them. (One of the carvings found above.) Many ancient alien theorists claim that it looks like a fighter jet. So did ancient aliens ever really visit our ancestors? Will they visit us again? Are they walking among us?

Presentation

The thing about this assignment was that it was really hard to get the class involved because we've never really done that, considering all we've done our whole lives is present, I mean, during presentations we've done activities like last year in social studies, I made a jeopardy game, but that was definitely the hard part. Also, I've had Ms. Johann two years now, and we've only ever done like power points for this class, and that was once each year. So we're not used to presenting in Language Arts. Also, I think that our audience wasn't exactly excited to participate with us. They didn't really make any comments or anything.

Could We Ever Be Equal?

In some ways, I think, we could be equal. Someday, maybe I think that we could come to treat each other equally and respect each other as equals, but not as extremely equal as in Harrison Burgeron. I don't think that mankind can ever be completely equal. The world would just be too plain. There would not be a difference in anything, which would make everyone the same, so I suppose there would be some good things to come out of that. One good thing to come out of it would be there would be no cliques, because you couldn't like someone better than someone else, because everyone's the same. But then again, you couldn't have a best friend, you couldn't have that one true love everyone looks for in their life, because everyone would be the same. No one would be special, and no one would rise above and make the world a better place.

Superpower!

If I could have any one superhuman power, I would definitely choose the ability to fly. I think being able to fly would be the best feeling in the world. You wouldn't have to waste money on gas, and you wouldn't have to worry about your car not starting up. Or for that matter, you wouldn't have to worry about missing the bus. Also, there wouldn't be those major expensive air fares. The ability to fly would help with other things too. It could save your life. Perhaps you were living near a volcano or something and it erupted, You could just fly up and avoid the lava. You would truly feel superhuman.

Respect

Respect, to me, is very important. To earn respect, you need to give respect. The school theme is bullying, and this goes right along with that. When people disrespect each other, feelings get hurt, friendships get broken, all in all, it's not a good thing. The way I see respect, is that it's essential. It's a way of everyday life. You've probably heard the quote "respect your elders," and that's true, but respect everyone. Even yourself.